Beautiful Beginnings
by lynxzpanther
Summary: When Rose Weasley finds herself faced with a lonely Scorpius Malfoy, will she listen to her cousins' advice to leave him alone, or will she try to befriend him? One-shot.


_My first Rose/Scorpius fic, based on a short story I wrote once in class. Hope you enjoy! luvs, ~Lynx  
_

_Disclaimer: Most of it is JK's, I just get the idea. Lucky lady, getting Scorpius all to herself...

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_**Beautiful Beginnings **_  
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Though Rose was just one of many in a long line of Weasleys and liked that fact, she wasn't terribly disappointed to be the_ first_ Weasley sorted into a house other than Gryffindor. It wasn't Slytherin—the house that terrified her cousin, Al—but Ravenclaw, and Rosie knew that her family had half expected it anyways. In all honesty, Rose hadn't really wanted to be a Gryffindor: she loved her family, but Gryffindors tended to give her a headache. Being in a house full of them for _seven years _seemed like unmerited torture. She admired her mum for surviving it.

She had high hopes for Ravenclaw. While Hugo, James, and Al had spent their childhoods begging stories of Gryffindor adventures out of Dad, Uncle Harry, and Teddy when he was old enough, Rose had always preferred to listen to Auntie Luna's stories of Ravenclaw. A quieter house, more competitive and challenging, yet still a family as tightly knit as the Gryffindors were—what was there to not love about that?

As Rose sat down at the long blue and black table she cast a worried glance over at her cousins Al and Jamie. Al, sitting shyly in his brother's shadow, gave her a reassuring smile. He had promised Rose that even if they weren't in the same house, he would sit with her in all of their shared classes and they would still be best friends. Domi, on his other side, gave her a thumbs up, and when she noticed her little cousin's lingering trepidation she couldn't resist making her pretty features into a ghastly face to make Rose giggle. Jamie frowned at her for a moment before shrugging; she'd been the most worried about his reaction, but he was distracted when Leo Zabini was sorted into Hufflepuff. James laughed along with all of the older children of the DA veterans, but Rosie felt left out of the joke. Plus, she hated it when she didn't understand things.

Jamie had also laughed, albeit more subtly, when the Malfoy boy had been sorted into Ravenclaw ahead of her. It seemed strange that a Malfoy would be in a house other than Slytherin, and if James was amused than it was surely an insult to the boy. Rose glanced down the table to look at him now as the Headmistress stood to give her speech. Malfoy was pale and quiet, seeming shy. Every few moments he glanced up and scanned the students, as if to make sure he was still unnoticed by the population at large, before glancing back down at his empty silver plate once more. He looked a bit panicked, but not angry or annoyed, so Rose figured James must have understood the implications of their situation.

It took only a minute or so for him to catch her staring, his wide gray eyes getting wider as a sort of apprehension dawned in them. But why would the son of Malfoy be afraid of her? Still, Rosie looked away, watching out of the corner of her eye as he wilted in relief and returned his gaze to his plate, seeking solace in the bleak loneliness. It all seemed terribly sad to Rose, but if he was happy, she supposed she'd best leave him to it… for now.

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It was the Weasley/Potter clan's tradition that on the first weekend of school every year they meet on the grounds by the lake for a family gathering. It had become their way of taking the edge off of the coming year, a time to plan pranks and unite against the oh-so-hated _rules _that the teachers dared to try and impose on them. As third generation Marauders, it would have been simply scandalous if they had just _behaved _like everyone else.

For Rose the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of school that they had already endured had made the weekend bloody welcome, but she would still rather be spending it in the library than out here with her family. There was a Charms essay due in a few weeks that she wanted to perfect, and her transfiguration still wasn't quite up to par (she had only managed their first assignment _minutes _before the Malfoy boy, to her dismay)…

"Still thinking about school?" Al had appeared in front of her, a bottle of butterbeer in hand and a wide grin on his face. "Lighten up, Rosie! It's first year! It's not like you have to worry about OWLs or anything!" But then Al was dragged off by their gaggle of cousins and she was left in a semblance of peace once more.

She scanned the crowd absently, smiling faintly at what she saw. James was with his Quidditch mates, making a fool of himself as he attempted to re-enact every "epic" moment from the games last year. Domi was pawning Al off to her gaggle of giggling friends, who cooed over her cousin like he was an adorable puppy. He seemed uncomfortable with all the attention, but Dominique kept slipping him chocolate, so for now Al was pacified. _Silly addict, _Rose thought fondly, rolling her eyes before looking away. Al would do anything for chocolate, and her family had the pictures to prove it. Her cousin Fred seemed to be working on something, but she could tell what it was from this far away. All of Fred's schemes became quickly apparent, though, so she decided not to go over and ask. She had a feeling they'd all see the results soon enough.

Her gaze wandered down to the lake and the other groups of people sitting by it. By chance she noticed the one boy sitting alone on the shore a short way from them, staring out across the lake and appearing to be deep in thought. Malfoy, again. She had noticed over the last three days how everyone seemed to avoid him, letting him blend into the background. Even the teachers barely seemed to acknowledge his existence! The worst part was that he seemed content with this, doing nothing to draw attention to himself. Rose hadn't heard him speak a single word in three days—surely that was a record? Her noisy family couldn't shut up for more than ten seconds!

James and Domi had warned her and Al away from Malfoy on the first day. Al had accepted their advice, but Rose wasn't sure that she wanted to. There was just something so lonely about the boy and she couldn't bring herself to accept that he _liked _it that way. Everyone wanted to be liked, right?

Well, there was only one way to find out. Mum had told her dad that it was okay for Rosie to be friends with him, and if Mum gave permission then that was good enough for Rose. Mum was _always _right. Still, she spared a quick glance to make sure that her family was still distracted before she quickly ran off.

"Hi," she said as she dropped down next to him. He turned to look at her, eyes going wide again, but said nothing. James would have said that he was rude, but Rose was pretty sure that he was just surprised that _anyone _was talking to him, much less one of the Weasley/Potter clan. She may have been a Ravenclaw, but Rosie was also the daughter, granddaughter, niece, and cousin of Gryffindors and she valiantly pressed on, "I'm Rose Weasley. You're Scorpius Malfoy, right?"

He nodded. "Hello," he told her quietly, almost as if he was rewarding her for her determination. Rosie smiled happily. Hello was only one word, but it was _progress. _

"I've never heard a name like Scorpius before," she told him. "It's really quite nice."

"Um, thanks." His quizzical eyes seemed to be assessing her, trying to figure out if she was _really _being nice or if this was just some elaborate joke that he hadn't quite caught on to yet. After a moment, he smiled back at her. "Yours is pretty, too."

"So… we're friends?" Rose asked, just to clarify. With her large extended family she'd never really needed to make friends before, so she was a bit shaky on the details.

Scorpius nodded, a happy look lighting in his eyes. "Friends," he agreed. "Although," he confided a bit reluctantly, "I've never had a friend before. What is it like?" His head tilted to the side in confusion and Rose had to smile. There was something so innocent about him; how her cousins could think he was evil was beyond her.

"I don't really know either," she told him with a shrug. "I've only got cousins, and they can be really annoying at times. Although… Torie's best friends with Teddy and they…" Rose trailed off, blushing at her line of thought.

"What?" Scorpius asked. The curious glint in his eyes drew her in more than anything. She could see the same thirst for knowledge in them, something she'd only ever seen in the Scammander twins, and they may as well have been her extra brothers. To find someone outside her family that shared the passion for learning evoked the warmest and happiest feeling Rosie had ever had. It was amazing, exhilarating.

"Well…" But her Gryffindor streak was showing again, and rather than say it Rose decided to show him. What harm could it do? She leaned forward and kissed him, just a quick press of lips before she pulled away. He was blushing pink, but he didn't look terribly horrified, so Rosie figured that she hadn't frightened him too much.

"What was that for?" Bewildered, but not angry. He just looked at her like she was very, very strange- an alien from another planet, maybe?

Rose shrugged. "Well, they do… _that… _but for longer and more… grossly." She blushed a little as what she had just done finally caught up with her. "Never happened?" Rose suggested.

He slowly nodded. "Sure."

A particularly loud bang sounded from behind them and they both turned to look. Rosie's cousin Fred had revealed his plot now: he'd tweaked some of his father's Weasley's Wizard Wheezes fireworks and was setting them off, dazzling colors exploding in the sky. Shrieks and whistles pierced the air, singing the hair of some people as they exploded dangerously low over the crowd. Unafraid of the potential danger, her family cheered. Al waved Rosie over and she stood, brushing off the muggle jeans that she preferred to wear on weekends.

"You coming?" she asked Scorpius. He looked nervous again and she understood why. Facing her family could be quite scary for anyone, but she imaged that for a Malfoy it was doubly as terrifying. "Please? You've got to meet my cousin Al! He's really cool, you'll like him." Scorpius still looked unsure. "I promise; trust me?"

He nodded after a moment and stood, but he took her hand as they started to walk back over. Rose just smiled and looped her fingers through his, deciding that this was the start of a potentially beautiful friendship.

Neither child was quite aware of what they'd just gotten themselves into.

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Reviews are love!


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